Category Archives: summer

It is safe to say that I have been on a blog writing hiatus for the past month or so. I felt sure that once school ended for the year I would have nothing but time on my hands. Time to write. Time to clean and cook. Time to relax. I suppose I underestimated the amount of undivided attention an almost one year old requires. Now don’t get me wrong… I love taking care of my little guy and feel extremely blessed to have the opportunity to stay at home with him from now on, but holy Hell is it hard! Baby Jack- soon to be Toddler Jack (not to be confused with Simple Jack)– is in to absolutely everything. He is an ER trip waiting to happen (happened, but that’s a whole other story).

And the kid is not a napper. Who are these people whose children nap for 2-3 hours at a time? What is their secret? I am lucky to squeeze a 45 minute nap out of my child each day, and I have so many things to accomplish during those 45 minutes that I accomplish absolutely nothing. It’s all kinds of awesome. I am really good at starting tasks and really, really bad at finishing them.

In addition to neglecting every major bullet point on my to-do list this summer, I have also been busy traveling. In June the hubs and I took our first baby-free vacay to the land of hipsters and heat… Palm Springs. My husband was a groomsman in the destination wedding we attended. I was happy to hold the title of wedding guest extraordinaire (self-appointed title, but title nonetheless). I had no obligations other than to show up to the rehearsal dinner and wedding. I took it upon myself to take full advantage of the pool and more importantly poolside bar. It was glorious… And then I was SO ready to be home with my sweet little boy.

Why we decided to fly out of LAX the morning after a wedding I will never know, but it’s a good thing that there was a cute little muffin baby waiting on the other side, because I can say with some degree of confidence that I wouldn’t have survived that brutal trip home otherwise.

The Texans of the group paying respect to one of our favorite locals in a little film shot in town called Dazed and Confused. If you’ve never seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it tonight.

About a week after Palm Springs, Jack and I trekked it down to the Texas Riviera (gulf coast) with my parents. It’s almost like the Mexican Riviera, except pretty much the complete opposite. Despite the brown water and stinky sea-weed covered beaches, there is something rather charming about our little coastal towns. Perhaps it’s the nostalgia aspect that draws us back year after year.

We are beach people, so I was thrilled when we took Jack down to the beach the very first morning and he absolutely loved it. He squealed in delight! He giggled with glee! We could not keep him out of the water! And then he got nailed in the face with a wave… So long beach and hello pool.

Jack loved spending time in the pool with his papa.

We also got a day of rain while at the beach. Luckily, the Texas State Aquarium wasn’t too far away.

Jack pointing at all of the “doggies” (aka fish).

Not long after our trip to the coast, it was time for the annual 4th of July neighborhood parade. We live in an older neighborhood in town. In fact, my mom grew up on the very street that I now live on, and she has proudly walked in the parade for the past 50+ years, and my sister and I spent every 4th of July as children dressing up for the parade. Needless to say, it’s a pretty big deal in my family.

With two summer trips and a holiday down, it is time to plan Baby Jack’s first birthday party. I can’t believe my sweet boy will be one in a little over a week… Check out the adorable invitation I created on Shutterfly:

I’ve been all over Pinterest searching for decoration, cake, and food ideas for the big day. Stay tuned for my next blog post documenting the day I attempted to make a “practice” cake for his birthday. That day was yesterday, and it’s safe to say that I am still recovering from the whole debacle. It was quite the sh*t show.